Automatic valve



1936. J. s. BRITTINGHAM 2 AUTOMATI C VALVE Fil led Aug. 29, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet l ,1 J. 5. BRITTINGHAM 21,52,275

AUTOMATI C VALVE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 29, 1935 E J. s. B'RITTINGHAM AUTOMATI C VALVE Filed Aug. 29, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Aug. 25, 1936 :lJ- N lTED STATES PATENT or FIC-E AUTOMATIC VALVE James S. Brittingham, Mountain Home, Tenn.

7 Application August 29, 1935, Serial No. 38,375 1 Claim. (01. 13'l--162) 10 kind comprising a;housing flanged at each end for connection in the-well casing between adjacent sections thereof-andhaving a central axially extending passage joining the casing sections, there "being a' plug' valve andseat near the intended -1 .upperendvof the housing and a pair of lateral .gate valves near the intended lower end with mating recesses in their inner ends adapted to receive and embrace the well drill rodwhen closed, the saidvalveswall having arms arranged 420 externally of the. housingiand. weighted to normally swing downward and close the valves, and

tie-wires to' hol-d up the arms, the said wires being I of fusibler-rnetal having diifering low melting points sothat theywill be melted should a fire 1:25 start in the well casing and then will part and allow the arms to swing downward and close the 1 valves one: atna time. r

-:Another-objectis to provide a valve of this 'kindin simple,- practical and durable form.

1 30 With these and other objects in view the invenitiOl'l resides inthe novel construction and arrangement of parts as hereinafter fullyset forth and claimed referencebeing had to-the accompanying drawings wherein:

:35 1 Figure his a :side elevation of the valve alone sshowing the arms inraised position.

Figure 2 is a medial vertical and longitudinal section:showingiragmentsoi the well casing and drill rod in broken lines and showing the arms 40 swung downward and the valves all closed.

Figure 3 is a horizontal cross section along the line 3--3 in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged plan view of the upper or plug valve and its stem.

45 Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmental end view of one valve stem showing the connection of the arm therewith.

Referring now with more particularity to the drawings, my invention comprises an elongated 50 housing 6 of heavy and sturdy construction and material and having a passage 1 extended axially through from end to end. The housing at the ends is flanged as shown at 8 and 9 whereby it may be secured by bolts I between adjacent 55 sections A and B of the usual well casing with the passage 1 forming a continuation of the bore through the casing. Intermediate its ends the housing 6 is bulged or extended out laterally as indicated at H and I2. ..A valve recess 0 pocket I3 is formed in the housing communicating with the passage 1 and extending in substantially triangular shape into the bulge I! on one side, the

location being toward the'intended or predetermined upper end portion of the housing as shown.

-At the upper extremity of the pocket [3 wherethe 10 same merges into the passage l the said passage is reduced in diameter clearup to the upper end flange 8 as indicatedat la and an annular, upwardly tapering valve seat i4 is formed around the passage at this point. A plug valve l5 having a'taperingl annular face 16 to seat tightly against the valve seat M vis provided and'same .has'a radially extended hinge armll terminating in a tubular mounting hub, l8-which fitsnicely into the valve pocket l3 near the upper end thereof. ,20

A valve stem I9 is journaled through an opening 20 in the housing 6 through the hub l8 and into a socket 2! in the wall of the pocket l3 and the said hub I8 is rigidly secured to this stem by set screws 22 whereby. rotation of the stem will 25 swing the valve l5 either to itsrseat 1401' outwardly into the pocket- 13 as shown in dotted lines (Figure 2) clear of the passage 1. The said stem, l9 extends endwise through the opening 20 exteriorly of the housing 6 and is packedso and sealed by a packing gland 23, the extreme outer end of the stembeing flattened as shown at 24. An arm 25 is mounted by a rectangular opening 26 on this flattened stem end 2G and held in place by a cotter key 21 and a ball weight 28 v of suitable size is rigidlyrmounted on the outer end of the arm.

Some distance belowthe upper valve pocket l3 horizontally aligned and laterally opposed lower pockets 29 and 30 are extended from the passage l out into the bulged sides II and i2 of the housing, these pockets being also of substantially triangular shape but with horizontally extended or faced stop shoulders 3| at their upper inner ends or extremities. A pair of flat rectangular gate valves 32 and 33 are provided and include hubs or bored hub ends 34 and 35 fitted into the pockets 28 and 30 just below the stop shoulders 3!. Valve stems 36 and 37 are journaled through openings 38 and 39 in the walls of the pockets 29 and 30, passed through the hubs 34 and 35 and secured therein by set screws 40 and journaled at their inner ends in sockets Al and 42 in the opposite sides of the pockets as clearly shown in Figure 3. The gate valves 32 and 33 are thus adapted upon rotation of their stems 36 and 31 to swing inwardly to a horizontal position across the passage 1 or to swing outwardly into the pockets 29 and 30 clear of the passage as shown in dotted lines (Figure 2). The length of the gate valves is such that they will just nicely meet at their inner ends 43 when stopped in horizontal or closed position and resting against the shoulders 3|. At their outer ends the stems 36 and 31 project exteriorly of the housing through packing glands 44 in the openings 38 and 39 and like the aforesaid stem l9 are flattened as at 45. Arms 46 and 41 are mounted by rectangular apertures 48 on the flattened ends 45 of the stems and 31 and held in place by cotter keys 49, and ball weights 5B and 5t are rigidly mounted on the outer ends of these arms. The arms 25, 46 and 4'! are all so mounted that when same are raised to an upwardly and angularly extended position (Figure 1) their respective valves I5, 32 and 33 are in opened position or swung outward into their pockets clear of the passage 1 as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2. The arms are then held in this position by tie wires 52, 53 and 54 all wrapped around the housing 6 near its upper end as shown at 55 and extended thence outwardly to the weights 28, 53 and 5| where they are twisted around hooks 56 formed on these weights as shown. The tie wire 52 thus holds up the arm 25, the tie wire 53 holds up arm 45 and tie wire 54 holds up arm 4'! as shown. These tie wires are all made of some readily fusible metal having a very low melting point such as an alloy of lead, bismuth, or the like.

In use the housing 6 is mounted as described between adjacent well casings A and B at or above the ground level G and the work of drilling the well proceeds as usual. Now should a fire break out in the well as often occurs with disastrous results the heat and flame passing through the housing passage I will melt the tie wires 52, 53 and 54 where they are wrapped at 55 around the housing and the arms 25, 46 and 4'! thus freed will fall or swing downward under influence of the weights 28, 53 and 5! and swinging their associated valves I5, 32 and 33 to closed position as described will shut off or seal the passage 1 and the fire below will be smothered and extinguished for want of air as will be readily understood. Then when the fire is out, by again raising and tying the arms the valves are opened and the gas or oil may be drawn off in usual manner. To make the action more positive the housing has a reduced, thin-walled neck 51 at its upper end around which the tie wires are wrapped as at 55 and the heat thus acts much quicker on the wires.

In some cases the drill rod C shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 may still be in the well when fire breaks out and the upper or plug valve [5 may strike this drill rod and be prevented from closing. The meeting ends 43 of the gate valves 32 and 33 however have mating semicircular recesses 58 which will encircle and embrace the drill rod as shown and will thus still seal the well and extinguish the fire as will be understood. The drill rod C may be resting 01f center in the casing and for this reason the tie wires 52, 53 and 54 are all made of slightly different compositions so that each will burn or melt at a slightly different temperature. The preferred arrangement is such that the wire 54 will melt first closing valve 33, the wire 53 will melt next closing valve 32 and finally the wire 52 will melt and close the plug valve 55. This results in the valves centering the drill rod C in the housing so that a tight seal is formed as will be understood. The gate valves 32 and 33 may be further tapered and flaringly enlarged around the recesses 58 as shown at 59 to aid in this centering of the drill rod if so desired.

The rectangular openings 25 and 48 in the arms 25, 46 and 41 are substantially larger than the flattened ends 24 and 45 of the valve stems which they receive as clearly shown in Figure 5 and as a result when the arms start their downward swing as the tie wires melt and part the stems are at first not turned but as the sides of the openings engage the stems the valves are given a. sharp jerk closing them quickly. To further aid in this snapping the valves shut, the arms 25, 45 and 47 are made of spring material and thinned or cut away intermediate their ends as at 63 so that some resiliency is imparted to the arms.

While I have herein set forth a certain preferred embodiment of my invention, it is understood that I may vary from the same in minor structural details, so as best to construct a practical device for the purpose intended, not departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

In a device of the kind described including a housing having an axial bore and valves pivotally mounted therein, valve stems secured to the valves and extended outwardly from the housing, the outer ends of the stems being flattened, arms having rectangular openings for loosely engaging the said flattened ends of the stems, weights at the free ends of the arms, the said arms being made of spring material and reduced in cross sectional area intermediate their ends.

JAMES S. BRITTINGHAM. 

